


Broken Heater, Warm Hearts

by miitamas



Category: Metal Gear, Metal Gear Solid
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Otacon/Solid Snake - Freeform, Otasune, v v v fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 06:17:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14868308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miitamas/pseuds/miitamas
Summary: Snake and Otacon are discussing plans for their next mission when a snow storm hits Snake’s cabin and breaks the heater. Otacon comes up with an interesting solution to conserve heat, much to Snake’s chagrin.





	Broken Heater, Warm Hearts

“Snake.”

 

“Yes, Otacon?”

 

“I think we have a problem.”

 

Snake sighed heavily, and casted a glare at the bespectacled man. “Do you think I don’t realize that?”

 

It was the most comical of situations, reminiscent of some horrible, cheesy sitcom. It was like some god played a cruel trick on the two of them out of spite.

 

They were currently trapped, completely alone, in Snake’s cabin, after a tumultuous snow storm suddenly rained havoc down on the both of them. They were discussing plans about their next mission, the huskies playing outside without a care, and suddenly, the lights went out, the roof went _thud, thud, thud_ , and the familiar hum of the heater went silent.

 

They were trapped, in the dead cold winter of Alaska, with a broken heater and no blankets. And the huskies were probably miserable outside.

 

_Damn it_ , Snake thought. _I should’ve brought them inside . . ._

 

“Could you stop mumbling to yourself and actually start thinking, Snake?” Otacon sighed, pushing up his glasses to the brim of his nose. “Do you have any idea how life threatening this is? The heater just broke, we practically have no food left, and who knows when this blizzard will end?! This is just the worst . . .”

 

Snake scoffed at Otacon. For all his ingenuity and talent, he was worrying over such a small thing. “We’re not gonna die, Otacon. Considering you’re a former engineer, shouldn’t _you_ be thinking of a solution?”

 

“It’s a team effort.”

 

“Right.”

 

The two men stood in silence. Otacon awkwardly shifted his feet, Snake cleared his throat. The two avoided eye contact. Although Snake trusted Otacon — perhaps even cared for him — he was still hesitant of the man. He was, after all, the former chief engineer of Metal Gear REX — he had good reason to be doubtful of him, right? He felt guilty he still carried this small shred of uncertainty, but he couldn’t help it.

 

“Snaaaake? Hello? You there?” Otacon waved his hand in front of his face, eyes filled with curiosity. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Otacon speaking to him.   


“Stop that,” he snapped, swatting his hand away. Otacon winced, and he already regretted it. Why did he have to be so damn emotionally stunted?

 

“Er, sorry. I was just saying that we should try looking for some source of heat, maybe try double-checking for food if we can . . . do you have any blankets?” Otacon rattled on, trying to brainstorm as much as he could.

 

“No blankets. No food. I already know,” Snake said. He felt even more guilty — he was usually so careful, so dutiful when it came to restocking food and supplies, and yet he was careless enough to have none of the most important things one needed in a place as frigid as Alaska.

 

Otacon’s shoulders sunk. “This . . . is not going well. Okay, think, think. We could try going outside when the weather gets less severe, but it could only be for a few minutes . . . there’s probably an underground base somewhere near where we could find supplies . . . but then again, it’s either a hit or miss situation with those . . .”

 

Snake desperately wanted to contribute ideas, but right now, he was absorbed with its own selfish thoughts, and he groaned. He hated himself so much right now — he was being so pessimistic in a situation where cooperation was key, he was being moody with Otacon (and the fact that it was _Otacon_ made him feel even worse), and the fact he was stupid enough to not restock on vital supplies made him angry with himself.

 

Otacon seemed to have noticed Snake’s inner monologue — sometimes Snake swore that guy could read his mind — and he said cheerfully, “Don’t worry, Snake! I know I was down at first, but I’m sure we’ll be fine! I remember reading a survival book about these kinds of situations! I know exactly what to do!”

 

Snake allowed himself the smallest hint of a smile. Otacon was optimistic in the strangest of ways. “And what exactly is that?”

 

“The human body can survive roughly three weeks without food, but only a couple of days without water. But guess what? The water is right outside!” Otacon grinned, motioning to the windows that were currently struggling to sustain itself against the wall of snow pushing into the glass.

 

“You’re suggesting we eat . . . snow?” Snake asked, completely baffled.

 

“Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking — it’s very unsafe, right? However, we _are_ in the woods, and relatively far from human influence, so the snow shouldn’t be polluted at all . . . it should be safe to melt and drink as water. However, we can’t use it as water forever, but I think by then the storm should pass . . .”

 

Snake finally smiled. “Good ideas as always, Otacon. But what do you suggest we should use as warmth?”

 

“Ah! Yes, that. Well, in the book I read, if no heaters or blankets are available, and if you are with other people, it’s suggested we compress our bodies together to conserve and share our warmth!”

 

“W-what?” Snake stuttered. He could feel a slight blush tinting his cheeks, and he felt even more puzzled as to why he was so flustered. Huddling for warmth . . . being close to Otacon . . . he had never imagined a scenario like that, and for some reason his heart rate increased when he thought about those things.

 

_What’s gotten into me?_

 

Otacon laughed, completely oblivious to Snake’s embarrassment. “Of course! What else would we do? Do you want to freeze to death?”

 

“W-w-well, no . . . but . . . surely there are other ways to stay warm?” Snake asked, his words stuttering. This whole prospect gave him a surprising amount of anxiety.

 

The engineer shook his head. “Well, unless you want to walk outside right now, chop a few trees, and get us some firewood, I don’t think there’s any other way.”

 

The thought of walking casually into the blistering cold, actually having to manually chop down a tree in that kind of weather, made Snake shiver (as if he already wasn’t doing that enough). But, for some reason, the thought of being _that_ close to Otacon made him shudder even more.

 

_What am I thinking? It’s just us two. It won’t be weird . . . or ruin our friendship . . . or be awkward at all. Right?_

 

Snake heaved out another heavy sigh, closed his eyes, and finally relented, “I guess we have no other choice. We can move to the bedroom when night time falls.”

 

“Excellent! With this plan, we’re sure to survive! And oh, don’t worry about your huskies. They’re much more equipped for snow storms than we are, with their fur and fat and everything,” Otacon reassured him, patting his shoulder lightly. The contact was oddly welcoming. He didn’t know why, but Otacon was strangely . . . pleasant to be around. His entire aura was soothing, from his voice, to his mannerisms, to his physical touch. He couldn’t explain it, but something about him was just so warm and soft.

 

“For right now though, I think we’ll manage since the storm just started. As time progresses, though, we’ll need to start the transferring of body heat!” his glasses flashed dramatically — he looked like one of those characters he always talked about . . .

 

“Right. Well, I’ll search the basement to see if there’s anything of use . . .” Snake said, and immediately departed downstairs.

 

The room was stockpiled with shelves, secret closets, cardboard boxes, weapons ranging from daggers to hand guns. It was dark and damp, a single light bulb hanging from above, the light barely flickering.

 

He leaned against the wall, and he felt the blood rush to his cheeks as he sighed for the umpteenth time of the day and covered his face with his hands. God, why was he feeling these things for Otacon? _Soft_? Even looking forward to physical contact? Worried about hurting his feelings? All these thoughts — these emotions — they seemed so foreign to him. And yet, he couldn’t help but be in constant denial of it. He still had that small shred of doubt in his heart, after all, of Otacon. How could he possibly feel all of this and still be even slightly distrustful of him?

 

He even knew his name. He knew Otacon’s name. That was a sure sign of trust — a silent agreement, a nod that both of them had each other’s backs.

 

It was so surreal for him.

 

He needed a break. Perhaps he could delay his “transfer of body heat”, as Otacon put it, as long as possible. Yes, that’d be ideal — even though he had no idea how long he could avoid Otacon in this cabin, he could do i—

 

“Oh, hey David!”

 

As Snake was pacing around the basement, he ran straight into Otacon’s body. He almost mechanically reasserted himself, straightened his back, and looked dead at Otacon in the eye. Meanwhile, his flight or fight response was waging war inside his head as he realized how idiotic he must have looked to Otacon.

 

“Sorry about that, uh . . .”

 

“Why don’t you just call me Hal? I mean, why else did we tell each other our names?” Otacon said, his head slightly cocked, a puzzled look on his face.

 

He avoided eye contact with him. “Just force of habit, I guess. I mean, if you want to start calling each other by that, then I’m fine with it.”

 

“Whatever makes us closer!” Otacon — or, he guessed now, Hal, said cheerfully.

 

_Closer,_ David thought, _Very close indeed . . ._

 

* * *

 

The single bedroom, of course, only had one bed, because never in a million years David thought, _Hey, I’m probably gonna have to basically cuddle with another guy because of a snow storm and the heater conveniently broke, so I should get another bed to avoid an awkward situation._

 

Alas, that situation came about — fortunately or not. As the day progressed, both of them had begun to feel the cold slowly creeping in. The last remnants of heat were slowly fading away, and the night only made it colder, with the absence of the already weak-shining sun.

 

David decided to just wear his regular clothes to bed — they provided the most comfort, and plus, he wasn’t really comfortable sleeping with Hal in just a loose fitting shirt and striped pajama pants.

 

Hal walked in, carrying a coffee mug that said “World’s #1 Engineer”, wearing a white t-shirt and striped pajama pants.

 

_Well then._

 

“Where did you get _that_?”

 

“You’re sleeping in _that_?”

 

—they both simultaneously asked at the same time.

 

Hal smiled, and slowly started chuckling and grinning like an idiot. He had dimples, David noticed — he had light stubble since he hadn’t shaved in a while, his eyes had bags under them, probably from too many nights spent planning and working. He still wore his glasses.

 

David couldn’t help it. He started laughing too, forgetting himself for a bit. It was so uncanny, how similar they really were, without realizing it.

 

“Well . . . I guess we can’t really judge each other for what we’re wearing. I guess we should just head to bed . . .” Hal laughed quietly.

 

The bed was surprisingly comfortable, albeit without a blanket. The sheets were stark white and soft, the pillows comfortable for any head to rest on. David felt more at ease — his troubling feelings were starting to subside for a bit; with the comfort of a good night’s sleep and Hal right next to him, he think he would be just fine.

 

David first lied down on the bed, and proceeded to stare at the ceiling as Hal joined him. An uncomfortable silence encompassed the both of them, as they both were laying a solid five inches apart from each other.

 

Five, maybe ten minutes passed, and the room only got colder and colder. David was visibly shivering at this point, and he bit his lip to keep himself from making noises. It felt like the cold hell would last forever.

 

Finally, he heard Hal sigh and leave the room. Confused, David’s eyes trailed after his retreating form, and he would’ve followed him, if not he were so rigidly kept in place by the suffocating cold. After what seemed like hours, he finally heard his footsteps coming back to the room, and he was surprised to see the man was holding a familiar white jacket in his arms.

 

Before he could ask what he was doing, Hal was already in bed, and proceeded to wrap his jacket around David’s body and pushed him so close to him that they were only centimeters apart. David widened his eyes as he stared at Hal’s flustered face, and he didn’t know what to be more surprised over — the fact that Hal practically yanked him closer to him to basically cuddle, or that Hal was _embarrassed_ about it. He was blushing furiously, eyes astray, and oh _God_ , how was he even cuter up close? His heart was beating a million times per second, and he swore it was so loud that Hal could’ve heard it.

 

Hal finally muttered, “J-Jeez, Dave . . . I told you we had to do this, didn’t I?” His eyes were still glued to somewhere else, avoiding his gaze. David could feel the warmth radiating from Hal’s body, and it was so warm, so comforting. His jacket smelled like him as well — cotton on a summer day, fresh laundry, fabric softener . . . and all _he_ smelled like was cigarettes and cologne.

 

_Damn,_ David realized. _I love Hal._ He was in denial of it for so long, but he had finally come to accept the fact. Even then, if they were to ever fall in love, David wouldn’t be good enough for him. He was rough on all edges, sarcastic, impatient, and impulsive; Hal was the complete opposite — kindhearted, analytical, altruistic . . . they were polar opposites, David thought, it would _never_ work out . . .

 

“I . . . yeah. Okay. Go to sleep, Hal,” was all David said, and closed his eyes. He could feel Hal let out a surprised noise — perhaps astonished the gruff man didn’t retaliate — but quickly started to fall asleep, as David soon heard snoring coming from him.

 

As the snowflakes fell on the freezing Alaskan ground, and the dogs slept away soundly, the two men fell asleep together, their heartbeats in rhythm, and David soon found comfort in the warmth from Hal’s jacket, and enjoyed the heat shared between them — he now relished the presence of the man he formerly distrusted, now the man he loved.

 

* * *

 

David awoke to find himself alone in the bed, but no longer freezing as he thought he should be. He heard the familiar hum of the heater ringing throughout the house, and he tossed the blanket aside, relieved, but slightly disappointed Hal wasn’t there when he woke up.

 

He sleepily dragged himself to the living room, found an old newspaper, and sat himself on a chair, skimming through the pages. He felt his stomach growl, and decided to look through the cabinet — there was no food, but a lone bag with coffee beans in it. Despite having no food, he did have at least a drink — that was enough for him.

 

Once he finished preparing the coffee, he sat back down, sipping the dark roast, reading news he had already read. He glanced over to a crossword section, maybe he’d try that later. A thought occurred to him that he should look out the window — snow was no longer battering down the roof, and a peaceful quietness engulfed the area, his dogs playing with each other, barking excitedly at each other and covering themselves with the snow.

 

“Oh, David, you’re awake! I made pancakes!” a voice came from the open door, and he saw Hal still in his pajamas, holding a plate of pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries, a cheery smile on his face. “What a miracle that the heater started to work again, right? Even more that the snow storm ended earlier than I had originally thought!”

 

As he placed the plate down on the table, David stared down at in astonishment. “W-wait, what? I thought we didn’t have any food left . . . I don’t even remember having whipped cream or strawberries . . .”

 

“Seems like you forgot about the food storage space in your basement! I found all of this at the very back, and it wasn’t expired yet, so I decided to give it a go!” Hal explained, and fidgeted with his hands. He could tell he was nervous — obviously wanting to know if David would like them or not.

 

“Well, thanks, Hal,” was all he said, and as he dug into his pancakes (which were obviously delicious, and probably the best food he had in ages), he savored this moment — this moment of pure bliss, as he read his newspaper, drank his coffee, and stuffed his face with pancakes . . . he realized all how domestic this was; how he desperately wished for this kind of future — a future with Hal, a future without Shadow Moses, without Metal Gear . . . of course, a far fetched dream, but he could still wish for something so futile yet so attractive.

 

As he finished the last of his pancakes, he looked up at Hal, and said, “That was amazing, Hal. Thanks so much.”

 

He expected Hal to nod and say a casual “you’re welcome”, but instead, the man glanced over at him with a coy smile, and before he could react, Hal’s lips were on his.

 

At that very moment, David’s world exploded.

 

His heart was beating even faster than when he shared a bed with Hal the previous night, and that was saying something. All he could think was, _Oh god oh god oh god he’s kissing me what do I do do I kiss back would that be weird no wait idiot kiss back I’m so terrified yet happy and—_

 

Before he knew it, Hal’s lips already left his, and he only stared at the man in shock as he wiped his lips casually and chirped, “Mmm, you still taste like strawberries.”

 

“H—,”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I probably overstepped there . . . I didn’t ask for your permission after all, and—,”

 

“You _idiot_ ,” David sighed, and he stood up, placed his hands on Hal’s cheeks, and kissed him back—he tasted like strawberries as well, and mint, and he felt that irresistible warmth radiating from his lips. He heard Hal choke in surprise, his eyes widening, before slowly kissing him back, and he felt him smile underneath their kiss.

 

They finally separated, David’s hands still on Hal’s cheeks, which were blazing red from his blushing. They stood in silence, and Hal reached up to grab David’s hand, and started to caress his palm, and his heart rate seemed to go inhumanely faster.

 

“I, uh, was not expecting that kind of response . . .” Hal murmured, his eyes shying away. “But—,”

 

“I like you, Hal. In fact, I probably love you, and I’ve been in denial of it for the longest time. And even though I’m probably not a man worthy of you or your love, I have to say it. Is that . . . okay?” David spilled out, his words fumbling over from his excitement. He had waited so long to say those words, to admit those feelings that he had harbored for ages but never bothered to admit them, to say _something_ , and he did. And he was exhilarated but also terrified.

 

“David . . . I . . .” Hal’s voice wavered, and a shiver ran down David’s back—“I like you too. I _love_ you too. For the longest time. And I’ve been waiting for so long to say that, but I didn’t know how. Trust me, you don’t need to prove yourself to me. And you are definitely worthy of my love. You always have been.”

 

A million emotions ran through David’s heart at once, but only one remained: joy. He threw his arms around Hal, and he could hear him let out a small _oof_ as he sucked out all the breath of the man, and as they both steadied themselves, he felt the warmest embrace he could ever ask for.

 

Later in the day, the two would find themselves sitting in the snow, watching all of David’s dogs growl and wag their tails and bark happily, and never once did their hands let go — or lose its warmth.

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to wren for asking me to write this! otasune is so cute ahh~ i had so much fun writing this!!! sorry this took so long ;u; i wanted to make sure everything was perfect. <3


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